The conchas at Mexico City’s Rosetta bakery are quilted in dark, chocolate-sugar diamonds. The rolls are dense but somehow airy; yeasty, but not too chewy or sweet. On a recent visit, I gobbled almost en entire chocolate concha before my coffee had even arrived.
The secret to these conchas is slow fermentation and a small amount of yeast, which creates a soft, airier crumb, says chef and owner Elena Reygadas, who was hanging out at the bakery recently and answered a few of my questions.
“We don’t put a lot of butter,” Reygadas says. “We want to respect the Mexican village-style bread.”
Mexico City is undergoing a bakery renaissance, and Rosetta — a sister establishment to the Rosetta Italian restaurant a block away — is among those leading the pack. The narrow, warm Colonia Roma cafe invites you to sit and stay awhile. Creamy subway tile covers the walls, and fresh-baked loaves stack neatly inside wooden crates. (One of those loaves is pan de pulque, which is a rare find in Mexico City.) Croissants and chocolatínes mingle in a glass display case near the entrance, along with bulbous popovers bursting out of their little accordion-shaped paper cups.
The overall effect is sort of European. But due to the small, sausage-shaped size of the place — the bakery was once the driveway and garage of a fancy Roma mansion — it’s also quirky, pleasantly chilango.
Get there by 8 a.m. on a weekday to snag one of the spot’s few coveted seats and to try the conchas. (At 10 a.m. one morning, they’d already disappeared.)
The shop’s vanilla conchas also contain real vanilla bean. Reygadas admitted it was a little expensive, but I’m hoping she continues to spoil her customers.
A concha from Rosetta bakery in Mexico City
Rosetta Bakery (the sign says simply “Panadería)
Colima 178-A, at the corner of Orizaba
Colonia Roma
Looks amazing can’t wait to try them on my next visit to the city.
But for now Baja bakery items at home will have to suffice.
Larry: It’s definitely worth a visit! I highly recommend the fruit plate with yogurt if you want something besides bread. 🙂
Too bad I didn’t know about this place while living in Mexico. In the 4.5 years we did live there, I can honestly say that we never had a concha (or much of any other kind of Mexican pastry for that matter) that had much taste at all. Way, way BLAND. Worse than Wonder or Bimbo white bread. Superama had some sandwich rolls that were good but most Mexican bread and pastries don’t seem to have any flavor at all. And the rolls that people would come into the bakery and buy like 70 of at one time, they were the worst. Absolutely no flavor. They must have bought them because they were inexpensive but why eat something that’s tasteless?
Hi Doug: They only opened in August of 2012, so I think you just missed them. But yes, ditto on finding poor-quality rolls in other Mexican bakeries. So many panaderías in Mexico City smell great, and the baked items look good. But you bite into the thing and it’s like eating paper. It’s such a shame.
Damn! Got to visit Mexico City soon!
And how does this compare to the fabled Bondy?
Hola Lesley, last week we spent a few enjoyable days in Colonia Roma. One of our first stops was Panadería Rosetta. We bought two panes Daneses and a croissant a la mantequilla. The Daneses were quite good, if a bit rich, but unfortunately, the croissant was a greasy disaster.
Not long after that, we found the relatively new Puerta Abierta Bakery, at Colima # 266 (about 1 block or less from the Rosetta.) There, the croissants are all flaky, buttery perfection. The two breads we bought were also good. The baker is a multilingual Frenchman who was happy to chat with us for a few moments.
Here are a few breads, and some croissants, at La Puerta Abierta. http://tinyurl.com/no3lyx8
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
Hola DC: Thanks for the trip report. I’m sorry to hear the croissants at Rosetta didn’t work out. I’ve been to Puerta Abierta, just once, when I was still living in Mexico City. I wasn’t wowed by it, although at this point I don’t entirely remember what we tried. I think I bought a baguette and my friend and I nibbled on a sweet roll of some sort. Perhaps it’s worth another visit? The one place I’ve heard raves about is Panadería Pancracia, also in the Roma. Did you make it there?
We haven’t been to Panadería Pancracia yet. Yours is the first I’ve heard of it. Got an address for us?
Saludos,
Don Cuevas